DeSantis calls NAACP Florida travel advisory a “farce.”

Florida Governor Ron DeSantis has dismissed a National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) travel advisory warning minorities not to come to Florida as “a total farce.”

NAACP Claims

• The NAACP claimed that Florida was undertaking “aggressive attempts to erase Black history and to restrict diversity, equity, and inclusion programs in Florida schools.”
• NAACP President and CEO Derrick Johnson said, “Under the leadership of Governor DeSantis, the state of Florida has become hostile to Black Americans and in direct conflict with the democratic ideals that our union was founded upon.”

DeSantis’ Response

During his presidential announcement on Twitter, DeSantis called the claims “a total farce.”

“Claiming that Florida is unsafe is a total farce,” DeSantis said. “I mean, are you kidding me? You look at cities around this country, they are awash in violent crime.”

By contrast, he noted that Florida is currently enjoying a 50-year low in crime. Likewise, he noted that no Florida city makes the cut for the list of the top 25 most dangerous cities in the United States.

He also criticized the NAACP for being silent on falling educational outcomes for minority children in metropolitan areas.

“If you look at cities like Baltimore and Chicago, you got kids more likely to get shot than to receive a first-class education,” he said. “Yet I don’t see the NAACP batting an eye about all the outrage and the carnage that’s happening in those areas.

By comparison, he said: “Black students in Florida perform much higher than black students in most other states. We ranked number three in fourth-grade reading and number two in fourth-grade math amongst our black student population.”